Re: Wisdom teeth.....ouch!


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Posted by James W on October 16, 2000 at 08:58:59:

In Reply to: Wisdom teeth.....ouch! posted by Pete on October 16, 2000 at 02:12:09:

Not sure I agree at all with this. About five years ago I was told that I would have to have my wisdom teeth removed - nothing to do with my tuba, just because there "wasn't room in my jaw" for all those molars - like you I had a feeling of pressure on the teeth at the back of my mouth and was worried about the effect it may have had on my already crowded lower jaw. Blowing through it rather than having them removed is one of the best decisions I ever made. Yes - it hurts when they break the skin, and that feeling of pressure crops up now and then when a tooth takes a sudden "spurt" (but not usually for more than a week at a time), and my embouchure has definately changed, not least of all because I now need a mouthpiece 4 sizes larger, but none of these effects have any long term detrimant to my playing or my other teeth. Basically I don't like the idea of unnecessary surgery. Wisdom teeth are not like your appendix - they are actually useful things to have and do fulfil a purpose. NONE of the horror stories my dentist told me have materialised in any way at all. I don't know what it's like in the US, but here having your wisdom teeth out seems to be fashionable rather than useful. A hell of a lot of people don't have them removed and you don't see every 21 year old who can't afford the surgery runnung around with his teeth bursting from his mouth. I have yet to see anyone return unaffected to their playing, and I seem to have had far less disruption from keeping my teeth than I would have got from removing them. If you arent in any pain, you have to ask whether you really need this done, and your dentist - who you are going to PAY to remove them - may still be a few dollars short for his holiday this year when you ask his advice...

James


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